ectoplasm

[ ek-tuh-plaz-uhm ]

noun

1. Biology. the outer portion of the cytoplasm of a cell. Compare endoplasm.
2. Spiritualism. the supposed emanation from the body of a medium.

ectoplasm

/ ˈɛktəʊˌplæzəm /

noun

1. cytology the outer layer of cytoplasm in some cells, esp protozoa, which differs from the inner cytoplasm in being a clear gel See also endoplasm
2. spiritualism the substance supposedly emanating from the body of a medium during trances

Derived Forms

• ˌectoˈplasmic, adjective

Other Words From

• ecto·plasmic ec·to·plas·mat·ic [ek-t, uh, -plaz-, mat, -ik], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ectoplasm¹

First recorded in 1880–85; ecto- + -plasm

Example Sentences

No matter that there is no liberal media beyond what has been fabricated from political ectoplasm.

From Seattle Times

Some of them, like me, were journalists who had dutifully showed up to watch Tiffany Haddish trade wisecracks with digital ectoplasm.

From Los Angeles Times

“After an absence of nearly 25 years Angela Lansbury has returned to the New York stage. And she is so vitally and indelibly present that she even occasionally gives flesh to a play as wispy as ectoplasm.”

From New York Times

Arriving in Edinburgh — the fantastical Scottish capital that has long shimmered with ectoplasm — Jessie hides her seafaring coffin and ventures cautiously into town.

From Washington Post

The character of France is like a filmic ectoplasm of us and who we are, and it is in that world of the film of us that is artificial and natural.

From Salon